When you’re craving pumpkin pie but don’t want to make a pumpkin pie, these pumpkin pie bars are the answer to your prayers! Perfectly spiced and subtly sweet, these bars feature all the comforting flavours of traditional pumpkin pie, complemented by a crunchy, buttery crust. They’re easy to make and serve, making them a delightful treat all fall long!

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You’ll love these pumpkin pie bars—they’re like pumpkin pie you can hold in your hand! What could be better than that? These bars are perfectly spiced, made with pure pumpkin, and feature a buttery crust that adds a rich crunch.

Not only are they a convenient treat for on-the-go snacking, but they also make a fantastic way to test out your pumpkin pie filling recipe ahead of Thanksgiving!

What Are The Benefits Of Fresh-Milled Whole-Grain Flour?

Nutrient-Rich: Fresh-milled whole-grain flour retains all the nutrients found in whole grains, including fibre, vitamins, and minerals, which are often lost in commercially processed flours.
Better Flavour: Fresh-milled flour has a deeper and more complex flavour compared to store-bought flour, taking your baked goods to the next level.
Healthier: Whole grain flour contains the bran, germ, and endosperm of the grain, providing a balanced nutritional profile, aiding digestion and contributing to a robust microbiome.
More Fun: Milling your own flour is fun! It allows you to experiment with different grains and create custom blends tailored to your baking needs or interests.
Fresher: Freshly milled flour doesn’t contain preservatives or additives, offering a more natural and wholesome ingredient for your recipes.

Where Do I Get Fresh-Milled Whole-Grain Flour?

If you’re living in a city, you can mostly likely find a bakery or fancy grocery store that sells fresh-milled whole-grain flour. If you’re living in the country and you can source whole-grains, you may want to consider milling your own flour. You can start without making a large investment by using a powerful coffee grinder or blender that you already own. A step up would be purchasing a KitchenAid grain mill attachment. If you’re really enjoying working with fresh-milled whole-grains and you have a reliable source of grain, you can also consider a Harvest NutriMill which is the one I use and love both for its beauty and practicality.

When you feel ready to invest, you can get a NutriMill with $20 off using my discount code BRONSBREAD20 at checkout.

Tips For the Perfect Pumpkin Pie Bars

Make sure the pumpkin pie bars are fully baked before taking them out of the oven. Given the wet nature of the batter, it’s hard to over-bake them; if you’re ever in doubt, just add an extra 10 minutes to the baking time.
For the best results, whisk all the ingredients together thoroughly. An immersion blender works even better, as it ensures a smooth, uniform mixture that promotes even baking.
Make sure to pack the crust down tightly in the pan. This step is crucial to prevent any leakage of the batter and ensures that your bars maintain their shape and integrity.
Allow the bars to cool completely before slicing them. This helps them set properly, making it easier to achieve clean cuts and enhancing the overall presentation.

Pumpkin Pie Bar Variations

Straight up pumpkin pie is just the best, I personally don’t feel the need to fix something that ain’t broken. But if you wanted to have some fun with it, you could try adding a couple things:

Pecans: Add a half cup of crushed, toasted pecans to the batter. Make sure they’re toasted, takes the pecans to the ultimate level.

Soaked Raisins: Soak a half cup of raisins in warm water until soft and hydrated, strain and add them to the batter.

The raisins may sink to the base of the bar as they’ll likely be heavier than the batter can hold.

Chai Spiced: Beef it up with chai spices on top of the pumpkin pie spices. Add 1/4 tsp cardamom, 1/4 tsp clove, 1/8 tsp black pepper.

What You’ll Need To Make Simple Pumpkin Pie Bars

You don’t need much for this recipe, you’ll likely have everything already in your kitchen.

Materials

Ingredients

Crust:

Butter: I’ve made the crust with melted and softened butter. Both work fine.
Sugar: Brown sugar is the bomb.
Salt
Whole wheat flour: I used a blend of freshly milled whole wheat and spelt flours.

Batter:

Pumpkin Puree: Nothin’ but pumpkin.
Brown Sugar: You could play with less refined sugars like sucanat or rapadura as well.
Eggies
Milk: You can do all heavy cream or milk or a blend.
Vanilla: I used homemade vanilla extract.
Flour: I used whole wheat but all-purpose is good too.
Cinnamon
Nutmeg: Freshly grated would take it to another level.
Allspice
Ginger
Salt

How To Make Simple Pumpkin Pie Bars

Preheat Oven: Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Prepare your baking dish by greasing it with butter and lightly flouring it.

Make the Crust: In a medium bowl, combine the melted butter, sugar, salt, and flour. Mix until crumbly.

Press the Crust: Firmly press the crumbly mixture into the bottom of the prepared baking dish to form a solid base.

Bake the Crust: Bake the crust in the preheated oven for 15 minutes.

Prepare the Filling: While the crust is baking, mix the filling ingredients in a 4-cup Pyrex measuring cup until well combined.

Combine and Bake: Once the crust is baked, remove it from the oven and pour the filling batter over the crust.

Bake Again: Return the dish to the oven and bake at 350°F (175°C) for 40-50 minutes, or until the center is no longer jiggly.

Cool: After baking, let the dish cool on the counter for an hour.

Chill: Once cooled, place the dish in the refrigerator and let it set for at least 2 hours, or up to 3 days, before serving.